How I googled to scare myself and help myself
Two weeks ago, I missed two step at the staircase back at home while back carrying my 19months old toddler and fractured my 5th metatarsal. The snap was very painful leaving me hugging my foot for the next 30 min while applying ice immediately. My foot started to swell later in the evening (I fell in the afternoon) and I thought I was having a sprain or injury to the tendons or tissues tearing... It was Sunday on the following day. I found the clinic offering x-ray in Bukit Serdang and headed there. Unfortunately, x-ray service was not available on that day and the doctor assured me that it is normally not a fracture if I can still move like this as a fracture is very painful according to her. After getting some medicine for reducing swelling (papain) and pain from there, I headed to Cheras to find the Chinese tukang urut (铁打) thinking of getting it fixed. The sifu suspected that I was suffering from tissue tearing as I did not have any sprain detected. He bandaged my foot with some herbal medication and asked me to go back on Tuesday for follow up.
It was Monday (3 days after the fracture) where my foot started to swell so much (inside the roller bandage) and I felt like it is going to burst out! After removing the bandage in the afternoon, it really swell severely! I loosely bandaged it and decided to get it x-rayed after googling about my signs. I suspected myself getting the 5th metatarsal fracture as my signs and symptoms are very alike with another guy who showed how his foot bruised and swelled in the internet. I requested for an X-ray on my foot in another clinic at Bukit Serdang. The doctor was surprised by how I mentioned to him that I suspected myself to be suffering from 5th metatarsal fracture. Finally, the X-ray result was released and it was confirmed that my 5th metatarsal was fractured in the middle shaft.
With the reference letter written by the doctor and x-ray photo, I referred to Putrajaya Hospital (This time I have chosen Putrajaya Hospital instead of Serdang Hospital after googling its information on orthopedic). As usual, there is a long queue and I was lucky that the doctor decided to see me on that day after knowing my condition. Otherwise, I will be given another appointment to consult on other day. . The nurse and doctor were surprised that I could still walk with a fracture foot. Dr. Vijay (a young orthopedic) who sees me confirmed that it was a snap and advised me to get an aircast instead of getting my foot cemented. He commented that since I can walk, it is better to use aircast as I can still walk without "tongkat" and taking care of my children at home. He also told me that I could took it out before going to bed. I was charged RM30 for the visit as it was not a fully subsidized hospital (like Serdang hospital who would only charge RM5 to consult a specialist) which I thought was very reasonable.
With Dr. Vijay's recommendation, I called up Wellchem Sdn. Bhd. (a medical supply store from PJ) to order an aircast. Two days later, I got my long aircast sent to me at RM583 including GST. It looks very stylish and easy to wear and taking off! I felt so thankful to people who invented this. I thought that he or she is such a genius to invent an aircast as cement replacer.
I then started to google about 5th metatarsal fracture and found a lot of information. A study conducted by a hospital in UK on "Aircast walking boot and below-knee walking cast for avulsion fractures of the base of the fifth metatarsal: a comparative cohort study" concluded that a walking boot was a better treatment compared to a short leg cast. Although mine was not an avulsion fracture, it gave me confident that an aircast would be a better choice than cement. I started to feel depressed when I found out that many people out there took very long time or even have to undergo a surgery to eventually heal their 5th metatarsal fracture. Some took 6 weeks to heal while others took more than half year!! It was well known that the blood circulation to the 5th metatarsal was limited and this somehow makes it heal slower. Some says we should take supplement while some doctors said it is not advisable as we need a balance of nutrient (not just certain vitamins or mineral) to make it work and if we take supplement, we might end up consuming too much of certain minerals/vitamins alone which doesn't do any good to promote healing. Some says we should start to walk when we can to promote healing too!
I decided to share my experience as well to contribute to the pool of information google on 5th metatarsal fracture healing. I have wore the aircast for 10 days fourth day after the incident and starts to feel much better now. Every day I put on the aircast in the morning and took it out in the evening. I apply hot water bottle on my fractured foot for about 20-30 min each night while doing some massage with ointment. After that, I bandaged it (with a triangle bandage), walk around in it before going to bed. I took Calcium Magnesium, EPA and vitamin C daily which I thought would be beneficial. I also drink a cup of ginger tea or sea weed tea (sea bird nest which was plant based) before going to bed thinking of it will help to promote healing. It was 15 days after I have fractured my metatarsal and now it was left with a little swelling (not obvious but dissimilar with uninjured foot) and a little pain when walking. My next orthopaedic appointment is 11 days ahead (by the time my injury will be 26 days old).
_______________________________________________________________________
My second appointment with the ortho had went through smoothly. It was a long queue at Putrajaya Hospital that day with 160 patients ahead of me queuing for payment! It took me 2 hours to make payment and another 2 hours (altogether 4 hours) to complete the whole process of consultation and x-ray which from my point of view is still acceptable. Charges for the service at Putrajaya Hospital as following (for citizen who are non-government servant):
Registration RM30
First time consultation RM5
Subsequent specialist consultation RM89
X-ray RM100
Unfortunately, they did not print out the X-ray and just saved the soft copy in their system (good thing is that this is much environmental friendly). Hence, I could not share the X-ray progress here. From the X-ray photo, the doctor pointed out to me the new bone cells which started to grow around my fractured part. I have found online that this is called callus. It looked not solid (blur) in the x-ray. Dr. Idris asked me if I really do not want to take the surgery for faster recovery. I answered that I would prefer natural recovery if it is possible. He then gave me another appointment after 6 weeks time (by the time my fracture is 68 days or around 10 weeks old). I was warned that I must wear the aircast at all time except when taking bath and going to bed. I told Dr. Idris that I am having very serious back ache these three days. He just shared with me a copy of physio therapy methods and asked me to do exercise.
I kept on wondering why am I having this lower back ache. At last, I figured that it was due to the aircast. At home in Malaysia, we do not wear a shoe when walking around in our house. Hence, the single aircast which makes me 2 inches higher resulted in poor posture when walking. This had resulted in my bad back ache! After searching around the internet, I saw some ortho suggested just normal elastic bandage and supporting shoes for treating non-displaced mid shaft metatarsal fracture. I decided to wear aircast only when I go out with my shoes. Other time, I will just bandage my feet to walk around to reduce my bad back ache. By the way, my feet is not feeling any pain beside some discomfort when walking. It feels like tingling around the injured part. However, I knew that bone growing takes time and protecting the injured part is still crucial to prevent the newly grew bone from being damaged.
___________________________________________________________________________
It was 10 weeks after I got my 5th metatarsal fracture. I have been wearing my air cast on and off (normally only wear it when I go out of the house, where I walk a lot or when I feel dis-comfortable walking on my shoes). This has solved my back ache problem completely :P. Besides, I have went to The Mines Wellness Centre (Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre) in Seri Kembangan twice to get acupuncture treatment for my feet and bought a herbal mix to boil at home for soaking my feet). The treatment was very effective on me as I no longer feel very painful when water dripping on my fractured feet during shower 2 days after one acupuncture session. If you are interested to find out more about the acupuncture treatment there, you may refer here: http://ghhs.com.my/v1/index.php/traditional-chinese-medicine/
That day (68 days after fracture), I went to see my ortho again in Putrajaya Hospital without my aircast. My appointment was 9am and I have arrived there at 8.40am. The whole process of paying the bill, taking x-ray and seeing the ortho was only completed at 12pm. The doctor checked if I was still having pain on my feet by pressing different part of my feet. At last, he told me that he is going to discharge me since it seems like I have recovered from my fracture :). the ortho also told me that I was lucky that my healing process was considered rapid as it took in average 3 months for a fracture to heal. I was glad to see callus forming around my fracture as shown by my ortho on the X-ray below. Although it does not grow as nice as my original metatarsal, I am grateful that it only took 10 weeks to heal without surgery.
It was Monday (3 days after the fracture) where my foot started to swell so much (inside the roller bandage) and I felt like it is going to burst out! After removing the bandage in the afternoon, it really swell severely! I loosely bandaged it and decided to get it x-rayed after googling about my signs. I suspected myself getting the 5th metatarsal fracture as my signs and symptoms are very alike with another guy who showed how his foot bruised and swelled in the internet. I requested for an X-ray on my foot in another clinic at Bukit Serdang. The doctor was surprised by how I mentioned to him that I suspected myself to be suffering from 5th metatarsal fracture. Finally, the X-ray result was released and it was confirmed that my 5th metatarsal was fractured in the middle shaft.
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| How my feet looks 48 hours after fracture |
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| Side view- 48 hours after fracture (Bruise at the toes and base of ankle was obvious, bruise also at the base of my feet) |
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| X-ray of the fracture feet |
With the reference letter written by the doctor and x-ray photo, I referred to Putrajaya Hospital (This time I have chosen Putrajaya Hospital instead of Serdang Hospital after googling its information on orthopedic). As usual, there is a long queue and I was lucky that the doctor decided to see me on that day after knowing my condition. Otherwise, I will be given another appointment to consult on other day. . The nurse and doctor were surprised that I could still walk with a fracture foot. Dr. Vijay (a young orthopedic) who sees me confirmed that it was a snap and advised me to get an aircast instead of getting my foot cemented. He commented that since I can walk, it is better to use aircast as I can still walk without "tongkat" and taking care of my children at home. He also told me that I could took it out before going to bed. I was charged RM30 for the visit as it was not a fully subsidized hospital (like Serdang hospital who would only charge RM5 to consult a specialist) which I thought was very reasonable.
With Dr. Vijay's recommendation, I called up Wellchem Sdn. Bhd. (a medical supply store from PJ) to order an aircast. Two days later, I got my long aircast sent to me at RM583 including GST. It looks very stylish and easy to wear and taking off! I felt so thankful to people who invented this. I thought that he or she is such a genius to invent an aircast as cement replacer.
 |
| Aircast could be obtained from Wellchem Sdn Bhd at PJ. It was sold at around USD70 online |
I then started to google about 5th metatarsal fracture and found a lot of information. A study conducted by a hospital in UK on "Aircast walking boot and below-knee walking cast for avulsion fractures of the base of the fifth metatarsal: a comparative cohort study" concluded that a walking boot was a better treatment compared to a short leg cast. Although mine was not an avulsion fracture, it gave me confident that an aircast would be a better choice than cement. I started to feel depressed when I found out that many people out there took very long time or even have to undergo a surgery to eventually heal their 5th metatarsal fracture. Some took 6 weeks to heal while others took more than half year!! It was well known that the blood circulation to the 5th metatarsal was limited and this somehow makes it heal slower. Some says we should take supplement while some doctors said it is not advisable as we need a balance of nutrient (not just certain vitamins or mineral) to make it work and if we take supplement, we might end up consuming too much of certain minerals/vitamins alone which doesn't do any good to promote healing. Some says we should start to walk when we can to promote healing too!
I decided to share my experience as well to contribute to the pool of information google on 5th metatarsal fracture healing. I have wore the aircast for 10 days fourth day after the incident and starts to feel much better now. Every day I put on the aircast in the morning and took it out in the evening. I apply hot water bottle on my fractured foot for about 20-30 min each night while doing some massage with ointment. After that, I bandaged it (with a triangle bandage), walk around in it before going to bed. I took Calcium Magnesium, EPA and vitamin C daily which I thought would be beneficial. I also drink a cup of ginger tea or sea weed tea (sea bird nest which was plant based) before going to bed thinking of it will help to promote healing. It was 15 days after I have fractured my metatarsal and now it was left with a little swelling (not obvious but dissimilar with uninjured foot) and a little pain when walking. My next orthopaedic appointment is 11 days ahead (by the time my injury will be 26 days old).
 |
| 7 days after fracture (wore aircast for 3 days) |
_______________________________________________________________________
My second appointment with the ortho had went through smoothly. It was a long queue at Putrajaya Hospital that day with 160 patients ahead of me queuing for payment! It took me 2 hours to make payment and another 2 hours (altogether 4 hours) to complete the whole process of consultation and x-ray which from my point of view is still acceptable. Charges for the service at Putrajaya Hospital as following (for citizen who are non-government servant):
Registration RM30
First time consultation RM5
Subsequent specialist consultation RM89
X-ray RM100
Unfortunately, they did not print out the X-ray and just saved the soft copy in their system (good thing is that this is much environmental friendly). Hence, I could not share the X-ray progress here. From the X-ray photo, the doctor pointed out to me the new bone cells which started to grow around my fractured part. I have found online that this is called callus. It looked not solid (blur) in the x-ray. Dr. Idris asked me if I really do not want to take the surgery for faster recovery. I answered that I would prefer natural recovery if it is possible. He then gave me another appointment after 6 weeks time (by the time my fracture is 68 days or around 10 weeks old). I was warned that I must wear the aircast at all time except when taking bath and going to bed. I told Dr. Idris that I am having very serious back ache these three days. He just shared with me a copy of physio therapy methods and asked me to do exercise.
I kept on wondering why am I having this lower back ache. At last, I figured that it was due to the aircast. At home in Malaysia, we do not wear a shoe when walking around in our house. Hence, the single aircast which makes me 2 inches higher resulted in poor posture when walking. This had resulted in my bad back ache! After searching around the internet, I saw some ortho suggested just normal elastic bandage and supporting shoes for treating non-displaced mid shaft metatarsal fracture. I decided to wear aircast only when I go out with my shoes. Other time, I will just bandage my feet to walk around to reduce my bad back ache. By the way, my feet is not feeling any pain beside some discomfort when walking. It feels like tingling around the injured part. However, I knew that bone growing takes time and protecting the injured part is still crucial to prevent the newly grew bone from being damaged.
___________________________________________________________________________
It was 10 weeks after I got my 5th metatarsal fracture. I have been wearing my air cast on and off (normally only wear it when I go out of the house, where I walk a lot or when I feel dis-comfortable walking on my shoes). This has solved my back ache problem completely :P. Besides, I have went to The Mines Wellness Centre (Traditional Chinese Medicine Centre) in Seri Kembangan twice to get acupuncture treatment for my feet and bought a herbal mix to boil at home for soaking my feet). The treatment was very effective on me as I no longer feel very painful when water dripping on my fractured feet during shower 2 days after one acupuncture session. If you are interested to find out more about the acupuncture treatment there, you may refer here: http://ghhs.com.my/v1/index.php/traditional-chinese-medicine/
That day (68 days after fracture), I went to see my ortho again in Putrajaya Hospital without my aircast. My appointment was 9am and I have arrived there at 8.40am. The whole process of paying the bill, taking x-ray and seeing the ortho was only completed at 12pm. The doctor checked if I was still having pain on my feet by pressing different part of my feet. At last, he told me that he is going to discharge me since it seems like I have recovered from my fracture :). the ortho also told me that I was lucky that my healing process was considered rapid as it took in average 3 months for a fracture to heal. I was glad to see callus forming around my fracture as shown by my ortho on the X-ray below. Although it does not grow as nice as my original metatarsal, I am grateful that it only took 10 weeks to heal without surgery.
 |
| A naturally healed 5th metatarsal fracture (10 weeks following fracture) |
I'm in stage of recovering my fifth metatarsal fracture.
ReplyDeletehi, the top of my foot has bruise all over, when will it recover? now its more than 48 hours. hospital put cement under my foot. its so uncomfortable
ReplyDeleteThis is so helpful, thank you so much
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hope! I'm on my 5th week after a Jones fracture. Podiatrist offered surgery but I wanted to let it heal on it's own. The day after my 4th week he said he is starting to see a shadow of bone building but I need 4 more weeks of no weight on my foot.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I am relieved that 10 weeks got hope of bone healing . Also learnt that bruising occurs around toes though it was only the 5th metatarsus fractured. Same experience n it to took 4 weeks for blue black to go off. Still feel biting pain. I am at about 7 weeks after my fracture
ReplyDeleteWhat physio ex did the dr ask u to do?
ReplyDeleteHi, by any chance did you have some bruising on the sole of your foot?
ReplyDelete